Halloween Back in the USA

Bag it all... tired of blogging old stuff... time to move on mentally and physically....

We are HOME for HALLOWEEN!

This means:

1) Shailey can wear a Halloween outfit to school instead of a  uniform

(she is so cute, I can't stand it...  and not too old to be festive, even in front of her peers)

2) Glenn can do his famous DOT ROOM porch

He covers our porch in black tarp, adding a few black lights and white dots

Then he dresses in black and put dots on himself... NO ONE CAN SEE HIM!

So when the trick-or-treaters try to take more than one candy.... ZAP!

3) Halloween PUMPKINS do not cost $40 each (hooray)
3 for $10, I don't have to be chintzy, everyone gets a pumpkin!

(Shailey created a "JACK" jack-o-lantern to match her sweatshirt :)

4) We get to dress up as anything we want because

a) I have access to Joanns Fabric store and

b) Americans understand what your costume is

This year, the kids were THE CHIPMUNKS

ALVIN, SIMON, THEODORE

Happy Halloween!

Its Autumn!

While we often pine to be back in Tokyo,

there are moments of JOY where we are completely happy to be back in Indiana. 

This was one of those moments.

Family campout on my parent's land...heaven.

Glenn even got out the tractor to give rides in the day...

and in the night when it was so black you could not see your hand in front of your face.

Death Discovery

While taking a leisurely walk in a local neighborhood, Jonas disappeared....

and when we found him, he was dead!

Upon closer examination, we discovered a few clues to his death...

A footprint in the cement next to a cigarette butt...  it all made sense.  Case solved.

But then, Jonas came back to life.... and we faced a new problem...

was it Jonas or VAMPIRE JONAS and his missing teeth?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Officially Back in the USA

Officially back in the USA.... how can you know for sure?

 Is it the cupboards open with stuff spilling out....

"Where should I put popcorn containers?

Yard sale pile, pitch pile, or Goodwill pile?"

Is it the hallway... did we really use a highchair before we moved?

Or, how about the girls room?....

Well I think it is the girl's room.... there may be some beds under all those clothes.

 Or maybe the boxes piled sky high in the garage would be your biggest clue.

 Our movers were super nice... they unpacked the boxes.... well, they opened them up and piled up the contents.  When we needed to find something, we attacked the piles.  Um... Houston, we have a problem here.... BIG MESS.

BUT..... I think the NUMBER ONE CLUE that we are BACK in the USA...

is that once again, when we order a salad at a restaurant, the lettuce is 

DROWNING in SALAD DRESSING.

(something we missed while living abroad...ha ha ha)

No Place Like Kansas

Another nice part of being back in the USA...

we get to take road trips to visit family.

The fam went to KANSAS to visit Glenn's sister Missie and troop

In the bitter cold we watched Brody play football...

It was such a gorgeous day... look at that SKY!

THE BOYS

 Park time... candid shot... aren't they precious?

 Brody and Jonas are only a few weeks apart in age... twinners

 We played BOCCE BALL

The winner is the person who gets closest to the pallino (small white ball)...

Guess who won this game?  Pretty close, eh?

Can I have Missie's hair when I grow up?  Pretty Please!

 Love this shot of Jonas

We went out on a date and Shailey babysat the kids....

her payment?  Aunt Missie gave her RED HIGHLIGHTS!

We love our FAMILY!